Army to Upgrade Training Centers with Northrop Grumman

The U.S. Army operates 3 training and readiness centers to aid in preparing American and allied troops for deployments. These are the National Training Center (NTC) at FT Irwin in California, the Joint Readiness Training Center at FT Polk, Louisiana; and the Joint Multinational Readiness Center (JMRC) in Germany. All 3 offer simulated terrain and features along with the ability for the units to engage others and pretend enemies. The U.S. has pioneered this concept of training over the last several decades.

Part of the centers ability are complex communications systems that gather data about activities and allow it to be displayed and analyzed to help units learn what they did and how to do it better. Northrop Grumman (NOC) has just been awarded a contract to upgrade the Combat Training Center Instrumentation System (“CTC-IS”) at the 2 U.S. facilities.

NTC and JMRC were originally set up to provide training against units using Soviet doctrine and equipment. Their missions have evolved since 1991 with focuses on low intensity conflict and the struggles in Iraq and Afghanistan. As the type of engagements and missions of the U.S. military continue to change the 2 bases also will change. Investment in better and more capable communication and data collection will also make them better sites for training.